Consumerism and Human Trafficking

The common thread in all instances of slavery is economics. Trafficking someone is about creating the supply for a demand. Children are drafted into war because militant leaders have a demand for soldiers. Foster children, immigrants and abused women are raped and forced into prostitution because there is a demand for sex. And millions are forced to work against their will for little or no compensation because there is a demand for cheap products.

If we’re going to keep our current economic system, we need to be conscious of the fact that we have a responsibility to the workers who make our products. By paying money to businesses that uses slave labor or don’t monitor where their resources are coming from, you’re are supporting slavery.

So let’s do something about. Advocate for the voiceless, educate others, put pressure on your elected officials to create legislative solutions, and most importantly, put pressure on corporations to be transparent about how they make their products and where they obtain their resources – even if this means boycotting certain products. We owe it to the people we enslave.